Richmond leaders declare gun violence a âpublic health crisisâ
Mayor Levar Stoney was joined by City Council members, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith, VCU Level One Trauma Center Medical Director Dr. Michel Aboutanos and other community representatives for the announcement.
and last updated 2021-05-13 18:18:36-04
RICHMOND, Va. Richmondâs leaders announced their next step to combat gun violence on the steps of City Hall on Thursday afternoon.
Mayor Levar Stoney was joined by City Council members, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith, VCU Level One Trauma Center Medical Director Dr. Michel Aboutanos and other community representatives for the announcement.
The Marsh Manchester Courts Building in South Richmond. (Photo: Crixell Matthews/VPM News)
Richmond City Council has agreed to start supplementing the salaries of lawyers in the city’s Public Defender’s office. They’ve set aside nearly $600,000 in this year’s budget roughly half the amount the office asked for.
Public defenders, who represent people who can’t afford a lawyer, have urged the city to help pay their salaries for years.
The state of Virginia pays the salaries of prosecutors in Commonwealth Attorney offices as well as attorneys in public defender offices. But Richmond, like many other Virginia cities, supplements the salaries of prosecutors.
Richmond Police Department Headquarters on Grace Street. (Photo: Crixell Matthews/VPM News)
Richmond City Council members have agreed to provide roughly $204,000 for a civilian review board examining police misconduct, about a third of the funding requested.
Richmond’s Task Force for the Establishment of a Civilian Review Board is currently working to outline how the board will operate, what power it will have and what kind of resources it will need. It’s still unclear when the board will be operational, although task force members are hoping for the start of 2022. The civilian review board will investigate police shootings and resident complaints.
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Richmond City Hall. (Photo: Crixell Matthews/VPM News)
Richmond City Council members are proposing various amendments to the 2022 budget, from salary bumps for police and firefighters to funding for a city-wide financial audit.
The proposed amendments would be attached to a bare-bones $770 million budget proposed by Mayor Levar Stoney in March. Because of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on local tax revenue, Stoney’s proposed 2022 budget includes little new spending or projects. Still, some members of Richmond City Council want to move money around to free up funding for various initiatives.
Three members Council President Cynthia Newbille, Vice President Ellen Robertson and Reva Trammell are proposing salary increases for police and firefighters, costing between $1.9 and $4 million.